GM Could be Target Company for UAW Negotiations

07/26/96

The New York Times has reported that the United Auto Workers are considering using GM as a target company for their triennial contract talks with the big three Detroit automakers. Their current three-year contract expires on September 14, and formal talks with each of the carmakers has already begun. Negotiations with the automakers will proceed until the union picks a target company, at which time the UAW will focus all of their bargaining efforts on that one company in the hopes of settling a contract they can take to the other companies to sign.

The union had been considering Chrysler as a candidate for target company; the change of heart may be due to GM's vulnerability to a strike. The UAW will not formally chose a target company until its leadership votes on the issue next month.

Although the union's target company runs the greatest risk of a strike, its not an undesirable position to be in, because it gives the target company a chance to to bargain a contract that is specifically suited to its own needs and situation. General Motors' chairman and chief executive John Smith Jr. said recently that he would welcome becoming the UAW's main target.

Paul Dever -- The Auto Channel